Illustration Friday: Teeth

Illustration Friday : Tattoo

Working on a painting but I couldn't resist this quickie on a scrap of rag paper 
for Illustration Friday's prompt. I love making a neighborhood "Tattoo" Parlour.                         
 Many cities have a lot of closed storefronts, Tattoo shops survive the times.

Wear your heart on your skin in this life~Sylvia Plath

Josie's Garden for Illustration Friday "Childhood" theme

Paper Sculpture for Josephine's bedroom. I had to quickly take photos because it needed to 

be framed and delivered so I took a few with my phone and then with my digital camera. Different views and angles. I added the mushrooms after my first set of photos because I stumbled upon this little fragile world and had to incorporate it into the image. I feel pleased,

not with my photos, but with the original art. The finished painted paper sculpture is called

"Josie's Garden"...

It is the season now to go about the country high and low, among the lilacs hand in hand, and two by two in fairyland.
~Robert Louis Stevenson

Illustration Friday: Lush

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Lush" theme is a functional piece of art that can hang or sit and it also serves as a little vase or flower holder by way of the chimney. I am going with the origin of Lush from the year 1610, Middle English  LUSCH which means soft and tender :} I am calling this house "Lusch Life" and it is inspired by this song. Have a wonderful Labour Day Weekend and Happy Weekend to all!

paper, liquitex acrylics, glue, texture medium and a flower holder inside the house.
All photos and art by valerie walsh

Illustration Friday: Rescue

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Rescue" theme is a painted paper sculpture and it is completely created from a piece of Stonehenge paper. It is lovely to start with a simple sheet of paper and turn it into a full colour dimensional image. I also used one pin, glue and a piece of thread. Happy weekend everyone!

"All girls are! Even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart or young, they're still princesses - all of us!
~ Frances Hodgson Burnett

2013 Valerie Walsh

Illustration Friday: Fresh

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Fresh" theme is a handmade greeting card

When you remove the crown,  the card opens to reveal a message inside.

This card was created for a friend and his nickname is  Pears Roughness, he has a music blog that I participate in that is called "Kings of Maybe:  It is a joy to find,share and listen to great music and the camaraderie of being part of the blog is fun too!   To commemorate our 3rd year I made a royal pear.

Kings of Maybe is almost 5 years old now, please check it out.

Fresh:

a. not altered by processing (fresh fruits and vegetables)

b.original, vivid ( a fresh portrayal)

c. slang: fashionable, cool

definitions from Miriam Webster Dictionary

stonehenge paper, acrylic paint, glue, little jewels

valerie walsh copyright  2011

Illustration Friday: Urban

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Urban" is a colour pencil drawing called "Homeward Bound". This is a colour study for a painting by the same name. Have a happy weekend!

Homeward Bound.

I wish I was,

Homeward Bound,

Home where my thought's escaping,

Home where my music's playing,

Home where my love lies waiting 

Silently for me.

~Simon and Garfunkel

Illustration Friday: Egg

My submission for Illustration Friday's " Egg

" is one of my Home Town die cut greeting cards. This card  is a shoppe that features Easter items  and like all of my Home Town cards it stands on it's own and when you collect all 5 you have a little town :) The original is Liquitex acrylics on Canson AirBrush Paper. Each card is a different die cut and there are 10 different buildings in total for holidays, birthdays, important anniversaries or simply just to say I am thinking of you.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

An egg is always an adventure: the next one may be

different. ~Oscar Wilde~

Illustration Friday: Glow

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Snow and "Glow" theme is a pop-up Christmas card made of paper, paint, some photo shop and a little glue too. Have a very Merry Christmas to you!!!

The sun's glow had given way to a brilliant twilight that colored the great mountains with violet and orange rivers.
~Michael R. Hicks

Illustration Friday: stripes

I have been working on Hanukkah images this season. This is a holiday that needs a little more colour! Here are some valgal HomeTown Hanukkah Houses. The images are slightly distorted because I photographed them on a curved sheet of paper. They are diecut to make garlands, cards and gift tags. The holidays are quickly approaching so no matter what you celebrate, have a very good one!

Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything.
~Ernest Gaines

Illustration Friday: MidSummer Knight

My submission for Illustration Friday's Midsummer Knight :)

Liquitex Acrylics on stonehenge with a little thread and glue.
MidSummer Knight's Dream 2011 valerie walsh


A gentle knight was pricking on the plain.
~Edmund Spenser~  1590 The Faerie Queen

Illustration Friday: soaked

I posted this image here and I talked about how I came up with this idea. But did you know that it was not just a painting it was also a T-shirt ;)

My submission for Illustration Friday's "soaked" theme is " Singin in the Rain" created in 1995.

Illustration Friday: layer

Screen printing is all about putting a layer of ink on paper. Layer upon layer upon layer. This is a screen print I made using waterbased inks which at the time I made this was a relatively new thing. We always used oil based inks at Wasserman SilkScreen Company and we had to use stinky solvents to clean up the screens and squeegee. This print has 9 layers of ink, one is a transparent white that turns 9 colours into 18 and the darker ink that has a textured look was used as a shadow colour and it has transparency in it. I created the texture effect by drawing with a special crayon on frosted mylar that has a bit of tooth to it, making the crayon stick to create some nice textures. Handprinted all by my lonesome, I use a little kickstand on the side of the screen and just print away :) Registration is key! :) My very late submission for Illustration Friday's "layer" theme is a screenprint on rag paper (stonehenge) called "Shooting Star".

Illustration Friday: surrender

Here we are a few days later and I have poured resin on the painting and it is sealed and very shiny. It heightens the colour in one way and it also adds a layer of depth to the painting too. I have to always intensify the detail because the resin softens all of the fine handwork and creates an even dreamier image. For me this image is really called Tree House because this is what it is, a California Redwood! valgalstyle :)

" If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it" ~Toni Morrison

My submission for Illustration Friday's "surrender" theme is a dimensional painting. Liquitex acrylics on wood panel with wood frame, foamboard building, handmade paper shingles and clay chimney and door handle. The painting is called Home in the Woods.

photos and art by Valerie Walsh 2011

Illustration Friday: resolutions

This is a "houscape" I did for a lovely woman in Sherman Oaks in 2010. She works in the field of music for major motion pictures and I am proud to have captured her home and I made the frame for the painting too. It is actually dark green but hard to tell in my photo. My resolutions are few but I resolve to do more unique and interesting projects if possible this year and see where my artistic adventures take me... My submission for Illustration Friday's "resolutions" is airbrush acrylic on wood and it is called "Dixie Canyon" :)

photos and art valeriegallerie/valeriewalsh

Illustration Friday: burning

My submission for Illustration Friday's "burning" is one of a pair of my tower candlesticks made from clay and handpainted glazes.

Illustration Friday: afterwards

This little house started out as an illustration on Arches and is printed and diecut and afterwards it becomes a garland of houses. It has one side that can be folded which enables it to stand alone or in groups and I used non-traditional colours for the holiday or anytime. Notice you slide the ribbon through the open windows :)

Illustration Friday: beneath

This paperhouse is painted with acrylic paint, i used thread to hang the paper star, fashioned a clay doorknob and of course it all starts with a small matchbox ;)

all photos and art valerie walsh for Illustration Friday's "beneath" theme

Illustration Friday: dessert

Did you know that a goat would consider a flower dessert? And deer do as well :) I have friends that raised goats in Topanga and the goat really will eat almost anything! They would stand on the roof of their shed which gave me the idea for this illustration. Many times I see deer and they are grazing on my neighbour's newly planted flowers or fruit trees and vegetables... It does make me smile and it has happened to me many times as well, it is always the same feeling SURPRISE!!! :D

This is a colour study for a painting called "House Pet" and I made this drawing in 1990 and did not use this idea for a painting until my 2004 HomeMade calendar. I changed the building and colours to pinks and greens but I have always enjoyed blue and purple together very much :) Was hoping to make something new because I love this word and have a good idea too but the time got away from me so this is my very late submission for Illustration Friday's "dessert" theme.

all photos and art valerie walsh 1990-2004 prismacolor pencil on stonehenge

Illustration Friday: artificial

My submission for Illustration Friday's "artificial" theme is a facade called Home Front. This is a tough word for a homemaker :) I thought of a house in Florida with all the pink flamingos out in front but this has been done a million times or maybe an artificially sweetened Gingerbread House but I posted the real sweet kind before ;) I decided on this idea, as you can see; I finished down to the wire because I am working on other stuff but the idea is reminiscent of the old saloon type buildings propped up in the back.

art and photos valerie walsh 2010